Local looks at Dollywood pricing throughout the years
Dollywood is by all accounts a success story of gargantuan proportions. When Dolly Parton partnered with the Herschend Family to put her name on the park formerly known as Silver Dollar City in 1986, little did we know the effect it would have on the theme park industry. It’s approaching 40 years since the merger, and Dollywood has transformed from a kitschy regional theme park with a handful of rides to a world-class amusement park. But with great progress comes great cost. Throw in the natural cost of inflation and the cost of taking a family to Dollywood has – as you would expect – increased greatly over the years.
Inflation has increased the costs of going to Dollywood and the Smoky Mountains in general. Of course, investments in the Dollywood theme park have also increased customer costs. In the last 10 years alone, the cost of a single-day ticket has increased by about half. And – if Dollywood is only part of your Smoky Mountain vacation – the last 10 years have done a number on the price of your Smoky Mountain vacation budget.
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Dollywood’s cost in the beginning
What we now know as Dollywood began life in 1961. The park’s theme was drawn from the pop culture obsession with the Wild West and the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. With a saloon and general store, the main attraction was the steam train ride that featured attacks from robbers, Union Soldiers and Native Americans. In 1964 the park was renamed Goldrush Junction and leaned further into the Old West motif. Later, in 1970, the park was purchased by Art Modell – the owner of the Cleveland Browns – who held it until the Herschend Family bought it in 1976 and renamed it Silver Dollar City, which is the same as their other park in Branson, Missouri.
In 1986, a local woman who happened to be one of the biggest stars in the world bought a piece of the action, lent her name to the place and Dollywood was born. A Chicago Tribune article from that year reveals the cost to get in: “$12.95 for everybody over 11 and $9.95 for ages 4 through 10.” It also states that you could get a Dollywood T-shirt for $6.99 at the 9 to 5 & Dime Valley Mercantile.
Food prices? The Tribune has us covered. You could get “…barbecued beef at Mary’s Pies & Smokehouse … with such excellently cooked vegetables as tenderly fried okra, baked beans and mashed potatoes, with iced tea or coffee and a piece of pie, cake or cheesecake for $6 to $7,” it says. “A faster outdoor place called The Chuckwagon, by contrast, offers smoked hotdogs for $1.59, Mettwurst for $2.79 and a four-ounce steak sandwich or Dolly`s Cowboy Beans for $3.19.”
Expansion began immediately. The Tribune reports that between the 1985 and 1986 seasons, a $5 million entrance was constructed. The plan for the next year’s expansion was at least as large. Over the ensuing decades, Dollywood has been a chiefly unfettered success, growing in leaps and bounds and adding world-class coasters that frequently are rated among the best. The park itself wins industry awards and recognitions nearly every year. Dollywood is by any measure a phenomenal success story.
Dollywood prices in 2014 vs 2024
The kind of investment made annually in Dollywood means costs will rise. In this time of massive inflation, it’s unfair to compare the Dollywood of today to the Dollywood of yesteryear. You can’t get in the smelly, boring and psychologically disturbing Dino-ride on the strip for $13 much less score a bowl of Cowboy Beans. But 10 years ago? That’s a nice round number. A lot has happened in the world in the last 10 years and it might be insightful to compare what a trip to Dollywood and a Smoky Mountain vacation would have cost versus today.
Let’s start with ticket prices. A press release announcing the opening of the FireChaser Express reveals opening day prices in 2014 were as follows, compared to today’s ticket price:
| 2014 ticket to Dollywood | 2024 ticket to Dollywood |
| Regular (ages 12-59) $58 | Adult (ages 10-61) $92 |
| Child (ages 4-11) $46 | Child (ages 4-9) $82 |
| Senior (ages 60+) $53 | Senior (ages 62+) $82 |
For a family of four, that would be approximately $208 compared to $348, assuming there are two children in the mix and not including taxes and fees. If you have a family of four adults, it would be $232 compared to $368. Here’s a comparison for Splash Country tickets:
| 2014 ticket to Splash Country | 2024 ticket to Splash Country |
| Adult (ages 12-59) $47 per ticket | Adult (ages 10-61) $54.95 |
| Child (ages 4-11) $42 per ticket | Child (ages 4-9) $44.95 |
| Senior (ages 60+) $42 per ticket | Senior (ages 62+) $44.95 |
That’s frankly a reasonable increase. Now, in fairness to Dollywood, there are a variety of bundles including multi-park tickets, multi-day tickets or staying at one of Dollywood’s hotels – which didn’t exist 10 years ago – that can greatly reduce your average cost.
Other increased vacation costs
One area that is a little better today than it was in 2014 is the cost of gas on the trip. The average cost of gas in Tennessee in August of 2014 was $3.57. As of this moment, it’s $3.09 and changing.
However, other places won’t be so kind to your pocketbook. The average cost of a hotel room in Pigeon Forge in 2014 was $97 per night. Current estimates put that figure at $376 per night. But that number is skewed by some really expensive, high-end places. The average night at a budget hotel is $155.
What about other costs at Dollywood?
The internet is a bit less helpful in that regard. I haven’t been able to pin down a lot of exact pricing for food, souvenirs and the like. However, I can tell you Aunt Granny’s was $17 per adult in 2017 and is $10 more today. It’s safe to say that food prices have increased across the board in the last 10 years. We also can confirm that while standard parking was $10 for most cars in 2014, it is $22.78 today. Preferred parking is $45.66.
Another potential added cost is the TimeSaver Pass. Not available in 2014, the TimeSaver Pass allows riders to skip the regular line for Dollwood’s best rides. The pass comes in three tiers, $60, $80 and $99 per person.
Cost analysis
Everything is going up and has gone up significantly over the last 10 years. That’s just the world we live in. Your Smoky Mountain vacation is going to cost a lot more. How much is inflation profit-taking? Or, how much is seeing what the market is willing to pay? I can’t say. I can say that despite these increases people are still flocking in near-record numbers to the mountains.
Dollywood – in my opinion – is very much in line with other premier theme or amusement parks in the world. A day at Disney or Universal is going to be comparable to a day at Dollywood. Six Flags, Cedar Point and Kings Island each have significantly cheaper single-day tickets, but prices, once you get inside, are similar.
We didn’t know it back then, but in 2014 we were living in the golden days of Pigeon Forge travel. You could get a night’s hotel and a day at Dollywood for a family of four for under $300 plus food and entertainment. That same trip today – in a budget motel – will cost close to $500. Certainly, if you budget and plan, if you bundle and coupon or seek a group discount, you can save money overall. But in the final analysis, the world costs more to live in than it did a decade ago. While it may be folly to think we can get back to where we were, let’s hope we can stem the tide of growth and give ourselves a chance to catch up.
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